Good luck. If you don't have Microsoft Publisher, find someone that does. You can just choose Program as your template and it sets up the whole thing in order for you.
In my office, I did everything in black and white and it looked pretty good for my first time. We used the same size as JHB (folded the paper in half). We do have a color printer so I did do the cover sheet in color. Maybe someone in the school can print this off in color for you to save money or pay a printer for just that page only. Look to your other parents. Put a little ad out that you need someone to print/copy these things for you. You'd be surprised what some of these new copiers can do...some of them will even fold and staple down the center for you. Someone at the school might use one of these.
People gave me business cards, picture of their kids, etc. I just scanned in as much as I could. I picked about 10 fonts that I like and mixed them up throughout the ads to make each ad look a little different.
Format-wise, it sounds very similar to school directories that many of us create. I'd stick with black and white to keep your costs down. Our directory is 8-1/2 x 11 folded so it's 8.5" tall and 5.5" wide with a cardstock cover. It costs us only about $1.50 to have produced at a local copy center. Folding it creates a nice booklet but is more work formatting unless you are using publishing software. (i.e., if you just look at a single sheet of paper p. 2 might be on the left with perhaps page 17 on the right half.)
Our directory has ads interspersed with the data. Sometimes the advertisers (especially real estate or insurance) use photos. And you need to test those to see how they copy on B&W.
I'd suggest you talk to some printers/copiers in your area to get ideas and prices. They've done a variety of different booklets like this. Even if you ultimately decide to produce it "in-house", the homework will probably pay off.
I work in an office, but all we have is a black and white copier. Would that be ok? Thank you for all your advice. It's obvious you've been doing this stuff for awhile and your advice in invaluable!
I work in an office, but all we have is a black and white copier. Would that be ok? Thank you for all your advice. It's obvious you've been doing this stuff for awhile and your advice in invaluable!
